PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — After a teenager working on a job site in La Center lost both of his legs in an accident involving a trencher last summer, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (WSDLI) has cited and heavily fined the company he worked for in connection with the incident.
According to officials, the 16-year-old boy teen was participating in a work-based learning program that allows students to earn credit and gain experience. While working for the Vancouver construction company Rothschy LLC, the teen was using the trencher to dig a channel for fence posts when he was dragged underneath the blade. This caused severe enough injuries that doctors had to amputate both legs.
Rotschy LLC had a student learner exemption permitting minors to do some work that is otherwise prohibited under Washington youth employment laws, but the use of the walk-behind trencher was not part of this exemption, officials said.
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In the aftermath of the incident, WSDLI issued an order of immediate restraint to stop work on the construction project and subsequently suspended the student learner exemption.